


Tries to Understand

by endemictoearth



Category: My Mad Fat Diary
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-06
Updated: 2013-03-06
Packaged: 2018-04-09 10:01:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4344173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/endemictoearth/pseuds/endemictoearth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This fills in the gaps around 1.02 and explains why Finn was at the cafe to break the date.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tries to Understand

**Author's Note:**

> This was the VERY FIRST FIC I ever wrote for MMFD, to figure out what happened between Archie and Rae’s date and Finn being the messenger. I’d seen a couple of short fics that addressed it, but not to my satisfaction. (Because if Archie and Rae have already been on one date, why doesn’t Finn believe the meeting at the cafe is also a date?)

Early on, maybe a week after she’d started hanging around the gang, Archie told Finn he was going to ask Rae out for a pint. Just the two of them. Finn had shrugged his shoulders. “Alright, mate, whatever. Have fun.” Archie seemed a bit weird about it, but Finn just put that down to the fact that none of them knew her that well, apart from Chloe.   
  
The morning after their “date”, he saw Archie walking to the leisure center and felt compelled to ask him how it went. Archie was distracted, but said it had been fine. Her mum had grounded her, so they had to sneak into the leisure center instead of going to the pub, but Archie said nothing much had happened. Finn felt a small rush of relief he couldn’t account for. Archie then mentioned that he and Rae might get a coffee at the cafe by the cinema later. Finn wasn’t sure what to make of that. Was that another date? Or were they going as friends? Archie didn’t seem too into her, and didn’t offer any more details, so Finn thought they must have decided to be pals.  
  
Later, at the pub, he was chatting to Chop. He took a drink and cleared his throat before asking, “So, did you hear about this date Archie took Rae on?”  
  
“Yeah, Chloe told me he asked her out for a drink.”  
  
“I guess she wasn’t allowed to the pub, so Archie took her to the leisure center.” Chop raised his eyebrows cheekily. Finn shook his head, “But he told me nothing happened.”  
  
“Nothing happened? Bollocks. I bet something happened.”  
  
“Well, that’s what he said.”  
  
Izzy came in and sat down across from Finn. She fixed her gaze on Chop for a moment, and Chop looked away, pretending to be really interested in a flyer for the Pub Quiz Night.   
  
“Y’alright, Izzy?” Finn asked.  
  
“Yeah, great! What are you two talking about? Archie and Rae’s date?”  
  
Chop grinned devilishly. “Y’heard anything about it?”  
  
“No. Just that he asked her to the pub, but they weren’t here last night, so I don’t know where they went.”  
  
“Finn says they went to leisure center …” he paused for dramatic effect, “… after hours.” His eyebrows waggled up and down.  
  
“Oooooh!” Izzy giggled.  
  
Finn didn’t want to hear Chop’s disgusting theories, so he gave him a withering look and changed the subject. “Listen, mate, I still don’t get this eight sneezes malarkey. I think you are talking absolute bollocks. Orgasms are supposed to be mint. A sneeze isn’t even nice, so how can eight of ‘em be an orgasm? It doesn’t make sense.”  
  
Chop sighed. “It’s pound for pound, it has the same physical impact. I read it in a textbook, alright? So just drop it.”  
  
“Prove it.”  
  
“Alright, I will do!”  
  
“Go on.” Finn grabbed the pepper shaker. “Rack up a line of that pepper, and see if you can snort it.”   
  
It was at this moment that Rae walked into the pub. Finn clocked that she had a faint smile on her face, and he glanced away, focusing on the pile of pepper. Izzy lit up when Rae sat down and asked how the date had gone. Finn already knew the answer, or so he thought. Rae’s smile widened and she giggled.  
  
Chop winked. “You didn’t let him touch your ladyparts, did you Raemundo?”  
  
Izzy walloped him and Finn said, “Nothing happened, I told you nothing had happened.”  
  
Rae stopped smiling to agree with him. “Yeah, nothing happened.” She lit up again. “We did have a bit of a kiss, though!”  
  
Finn looked up at Rae again. She seemed really pleased, but he couldn’t account for how he was feeling. Was this … no, he couldn’t be jealous. But he wasn’t happy for her. Maybe it was because Archie hadn’t told him about the kiss? Whatever. He went back to the pepper. Chop made some dumb remark about how her and Archie’s faces had had sex, and Rae seemed to play it cool. “It was only a kiss!” But when Izzy pressed her, she seemed to want to give more details. Finn was trying hard to concentrate on the pepper now.  
  
Just then, Chloe walked in with a face on and said, “I need to talk to you girls, NOW” and dragged Rae and Izzy away. Finn wasn’t sure if he was glad or disappointed Chloe had cut off Rae’s retelling of her date.  
  
After they left, Chop grabbed a straw and snorted a line of pepper. He brought his head up, grinning for a second before he yelped in pain and put his hand up to his nostrils. “Ow! Ow!”  
  
Finn laughed, glad of the distraction. “You’re such a knobhead.”  
  
***  
  
Later that afternoon, Finn was in his bedroom listening to the Beastie Boys when his dad yelled up the stairs. “Finn! Phone for you! It’s Archie!”  
  
“Alright, Dad!”  
  
Archie asked Finn to come by his for a chat. Finn thought it was a little strange, but he thought he might get more information on the date, so he said he’d come over straight away.  
  
As he pulled into the drive, Archie leaned out of the front door. “Hey, Finn.”   
  
“Hiya, Arch. What’s up?”  
  
“Well, I …” Archie looked at his feet. “I’m supposed to be meeting Rae at the cafe for a coffee tonight. I think she … I thought I could …” He seemed to be having trouble forming his thoughts into words. He sighed and said, “My parents called and said they need me to clean up the house before they get back tomorrow morning, so …” Archie swallowed and looked up at Finn. “Can you tell Rae I can’t make it? I don’t want her waiting there alone.”  
  
Finn glanced past Archie into the living room, which looked perfectly fine to him. He couldn’t figure out what was going on, but Archie was a good bloke, so he figured maybe he and Rae had agreed to be friends after their “bit of a kiss” and Archie was trying to keep things uncomplicated.  
  
“Sure, mate. What time are you meant to be meeting her?”  
  
Archie looked up sheepishly. “In about twenty minutes.”  
  
“You’re cutting it fucking close! I’d better go now, then. Have fun cleaning house, mate.”  
  
Finn put his bike helmet back on and drove straight to the cafe. He parked his bike and started walking to the door. He could see Rae looking out of the window expectantly. He took off his helmet, and she spotted him. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. Finn pushed open the door, feeling like a right prat, and walked towards her.  
  
“What are YOU doing here?” she asked.  
  
“I just saw Archie. He ain’t coming. He said to say … well, he said to say that, really.”  
  
His task over, he exhaled and looked at Rae. She wasn’t looking at him. She was looking ahead, eyes focused on nothing. He noticed she wasn’t wearing her usual band t-shirt; she had on some sparkly top and was wearing a load of makeup. Her eyes seemed really big and bright.   
  
“Why are you dressed like Chloe?”  
  
“I’m not dressed like Chloe,” she said quickly, still not looking at him.   
  
She seemed to wish him miles away, or maybe she wished she was miles away from everyone. He nodded okay, gave her one last look, and said, “See you later, then.”   
  
As he drove away, he thought he caught a glimpse of her in his wing mirror, walking barefoot and angry. He began to doubt that this had been just a friendly coffee. He thought about driving back to Archie’s and giving him a piece of his mind, but drove back home instead.  
  
***  
  
The next morning, he still felt guilty. He put on five records in a row, but none of them seemed right. He just wanted to lay on his bed and have the music take over, but his thoughts kept crowding the notes out of his head. Rae’s stony face, with the furrowed brow, kept appearing when he closed his eyes. He called Archie.  
  
“I’m just about to go to work, mate. What’s up?”  
  
“Was last night with Rae supposed to be a date?”  
  
“What do you mean?” Archie scoffed.  
  
“Did you send me there to break a fucking date?”  
  
“Well, it wasn’t technically … I guess it sort of was … yeah. It was a date.”  
  
“That’s not on, Arch. That’s a fucking dick move.”  
  
“Finn, I’m sorry.”  
  
“You shouldn’t be apologizing to me. You should be apologizing to Rae.”  
  
“I-I know. Look, I’ve got to go, or I’ll be late. I’ll talk to Rae later. I promise.”  
  
Archie hung up, and Finn stared at the phone. He didn’t know Rae’s number, or her mum’s first name. (He just happened to know there were nine Earls in the phonebook.) However, he did remember where she lived. They’d all walked home from the pub one night last week, and her house was the first one they came to. He wondered if he should go round and say something. Her hurt face flashed in front of his eyes again. Clearly, if he was going to get any peace today, he had to see her and straighten out his side of things.  
  
It was just after one when he got to her house. He sat on his bike for a few minutes, just breathing, before walking up to the front door and ringing the bell.  
  
A blond woman opened the door. He didn’t expect Rae’s mum to be short. “Can I help you?” she asked.  
  
“I’m here to see Rae, just for a minute.”  
  
She looked at him for a moment, and Finn adjusted his jacket collar nervously. “I’ll get her, then.” She left the door ajar, and he shifted his weight.  
  
After a minute, Rae appeared in the doorway. She rolled her eyes when she saw him. She was still in her pajamas and seemed tired. “What” she said wearily.  
  
He knew this was a mistake. “Came about yesterday.”  
  
“Come to take the piss, have you?”  
  
“No!”  
  
She started to go back inside. “Just save it.”  
  
“I would never have done it if I knew you was supposed to be on a date!”  
  
She paused and turned, rolling her eyes again. “Oh. How very grown up of you!”  
  
Now who was taking the piss? He took a breath. “Look. I know you don’t like me, and that’s fine, right? I just …” he struggled for words. “I think he’s a dick for what he did!” Rae’s face now looked confused. He looked down at his helmet. “I didn’t want you adding it to the very long list of things you hate about me.”   
  
He paused and looked up at her. She looked back with a face that said So what? He knew he should leave, and turned to go. She really did hate him. He got on his bike.  
  
Then, he wasn’t sure, but he thought he heard her sigh. He definitely heard her say his name. He turned, holding his helmet over his head.  
  
She looked him straight in the eye. “The list isn’t that long.”  
  
He almost let himself smile at her. He told her Archie was at work, and advised her to find him and stick a boot right up his arse.  
  
She smiled, and now that his helmet was on, he allowed himself to grin as he drove away.  
  
***  
  
When he got home, he put on (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? and listened to the whole album twice. Rae’s face still came to his mind, but this time, she was smiling.  
  
***  
  
The next day, Archie came into the pub. Rae, Chop, and Finn were drinking pints, and Archie came and sat next to Rae. Finn tensed, ready to defend Rae at any minute, but Archie looked at everyone at the table, then started by apologizing. “I’m so sorry, Rae. I never should have stood you up like that. Or, at all, really. I really want to make it up to you. Will you please give me another chance? I’ll take you anywhere you want to go; you can choose everything. Please.”  
  
Finn looked at Rae to gauge her reaction, bracing himself for her acceptance. But she didn’t seem angry, or at all interested. She actually seemed to be amused by the whole thing. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said, dead casual,“No, that’s okay, Archie. I don’t think I want to go out with you again.”  
  
Chop snickered. “Looks like you blew it, mate!”  
  
Archie looked around the table, and then put his hand on Rae’s arm. “Please, Rae, please give me a chance to prove myself. I’ll do whatever you want.” Finn looked at where Archie was touching her with intensity. Aware he was staring, he fumbled with his pack of cigarettes as a distraction.  
  
Rae smiled at Archie, and limply patted his hand. “Nah. I’m alright. You can get me another pint, though, if you’re staying.” She did seem to be bloody pleased with herself, smirking as she leaned back in her seat with her arms crossed. Finn smiled and took a drink. “Yeah, get me one and all.”  
  
Chop grinned. “This round’s on you, Archie!”  
  
As Archie walked over to the bar, Finn slid 20p across the table to Rae. “Play something for us, will ya?”  
  
She grinned at him, grabbed the coin, and walked over to the jukebox. He waited until she walked away before he smiled, too.


End file.
